Narrative Voice for Young Adult Fiction Books

Source: greggmorris.com

One of the defining characteristics of young adult fiction books is what we call “Narrative voice,” which is how your narrator tells the story. When you’re writing for a young adult audience, it’s important to make the narrative voice very teen-friendly, so readers can organically understand and relate to what’s being said. Whether you’re writing dystopian literature or science fiction and fantasy books set in another world, the characters need to be real and relatable, even if they’re not teenaged.

Surrender to immaturity. Some teens and many tweens are introverted or focused on inner conflicts. This makes them relate well to characters in young adult fiction books who face similar coming-of-age issues. Just like the protagonists, they’re trying to figure out who they are.  These characters will not usually be very aware of what they’re doing, and often act and react without thinking, and have emotional outbursts. It really doesn’t matter if it’s the protagonist of a series of science fiction and fantasy books or a chick lit novel; it could be an alien from another planet. What matters is that they’re learning about who they are and have an inexperienced outlook about life.

Unleash your inner drama queen. Use words and phrases that overdramatize a situation and its impact on your characters. Teenagers tend to exaggerate circumstances and get overly emotional. They may say silly things like, “I’m so dead!” or “I hate you,” to convey how serious the situation is to them. When teens are upset they tend to make things seem bigger than they are—use simple language that conveys their message and emotions.

Don’t be a messenger. While many authors of young adult novels, especially writers of dystopian literature, have a message they want their book to convey, it needs to be taught through the lessons the protagonist learns throughout the story. Don’t try to tell the reader the message.

Be easy to read. Young adult fiction books should be written in straightforward language, using shorter, less complex sentences. Young adult readers look for a more manageable read—short paragraphs with simple sentence structures are the way to go for this market. Authors of young adult novels often let sentences run on purposely and get creative with grammar. It’s a more fun, relaxed style that’s less daunting for the reader.